FAQs

Proposed developments within the City are assessed under the City of Vincent Local Planning Scheme No. 2, State Planning Policy 7.3 Residential Design Codes and relevant local planning policies which: 

- aims to control and guide development and  growth in a responsible manner and 

- accommodate and respond to change.

Whilst the Local Planning Scheme No. 2 and relevant planning policies aim to respond to best practice planning principles, they cannot cater for all development scenarios. For this reason they have been developed with a focus on what they are trying to achieve rather than on how to achieve it. This is more clearly explained in the next section. This approach, which is called a performance based approach, may require the City to exercise some discretion. Where discretion is required the application will be advertised, generally for a minimum of 14 or 28 days, in accordance with the City's Community and Stakeholder Engagement Policy.

Following the period of consultation, the City's Officers will consider the merits of the application to ensure that the proposal is appropriate and will not have an undue impact on the amenity of the area. 

All comments or submissions received by the City will be considered when determining any development application/proposal, in the context of the City's legal responsibilities, the interests of the affected community and the reasonable expectations and rights of the applicant.

The proposal will be assessed against the Residential Design Codes and the City's Local Planning Policies. Both the Codes and the City's Policies comprise two approaches for assessing and determining a planning application: 

1. Design Principles / Element Objectives; and 

2. Deemed-to-Comply Provisions / Acceptable Outcomes. 

Design Principles/Element Objectives describe the outcome that is sought rather than the way that it can be achieved. For example, when considering privacy requirements the Performance Criteria Design Principles/Element Objective state that the direct overlooking of active habitable spaces (e.g. bedrooms, living areas) should be minimised through building layout, location of major openings and screening. No hard and fast rule is defined. By focusing on the desired outcome rather than providing a prescriptive rule creative designs are not stifled and a wide range of designs can be contemplated. 

Deemed-to-Comply / Acceptable Outcomes illustrate one way of satisfactorily meeting the Design Principles / Element Objectives. This provides some certainty to an applicant by defining one of the ways to meet the Design Principles/Design Solution, but it is not necessarily the only way. If an application does not meet the Deemed-to-Comply Provisions / Acceptable Outcomes the Decision Maker needs to determine if the application still meets the Design Principles/Element Objectives (i.e. does it achieve the desired outcome). It is in situations like this that the Decision Maker needs to exercise discretion in deciding whether the Design Principles/Element Objective have been met. 

In regards to Local Planning Policies, the City is not allowed to refuse an application for a particular element if the application meets the Deemed-to-Comply Provisions for that element. City Officers assess each application to identify where the Deemed-to-Comply Provisions have been met and therefore must be accepted. Those elements that do not meet the Deemed-to -Comply Provisions, and therefore must be assessed against the Design Principles/Design Solution, are identified and are listed for consideration by the neighbours and affected parties, and ultimately for assessment by the City.

Yes. Large scale site plans, plans, elevations and other relevant information is available for public viewing at the Administration and Civic Centre, 244 Vincent Street (cnr Loftus Street), Leederville between 8.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) or at the Library and Local History Centre during opening hours.

You may also contact the Planning Officer, whose name appears on the consultation letter.

Your submission should clearly state the reasons why you object to, or support the development proposal and should relate directly to the variations proposed by the development to the standards of the Scheme, the Codes or any relevant planning policies as identified in the referral letter. Typical variations that may arise include privacy; overshadowing; height, bulk and scale; streetscape and character; and car parking.

A good submission is:

- Brief and to the point: If your submission needs to be lengthy because of the issues involved or a number of grounds for objection, then it is a good idea to include a single page summary sheet for easy reference. 

- Supported  by reason and facts: Take the time to gather the facts. Talk to the Planning Officer who is dealing with the application prior to writing your submission and make sure that you understand what is proposed. Base your submission on the facts, not on hearsay. Once you are sure of the facts, prepare your submission based on how the proposal will affect you and the enjoyment of your property.

As the responsible planning authority, the City is not authorised to consider non-planning matters. Therefore, submissions which are based on civil or non-planning matters will not be considered. Examples of such matters include possible impact on property values, vistas or dividing fences.

If you are satisfied with the proposed development, you can provide the City with a submission of support.

It is important for the City to understand the range of views across the community.

In any case, a Officer will make an assessment of the proposal and all submissions received from the community. This includes matters including but not limited to building design, overshadowing, privacy, noise, traffic and parking.

Your submission, along with others received, will be considered as part of an overall assessment. In some cases the concerns raised in submissions may be forwarded to the applicant for their response (your personal details will not be disclosed). Sometimes this leads to a redesign of the development. 

The submissions received form part of the assessment of an application and must be balanced with the City's statutory obligations. 

The City is obliged to determine a development application within 90 days. Given this timeframe, it is not usually possible to have a second community consultation period for a redesigned development application. However, if you make a submission and elect to be kept informed on the Community Consultation Form, the Planning Officer will advise you if and when the matter is to be determined by Council or the Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP).

You can also contact the Planning Officer handling the application for information on any changes to the proposed development following on the community consultation process.

Primary responsibility for making decisions rests with the elected Council, at a Council Meeting. However, for some development applications, the Council has also delegated some decision-making responsibility to the Chief Executive Officer. 

Details on what is required to be reported to the Council are outlined in the Delegated Authority Register, which is available on the City's website. Generally, it is only larger applications which are determined by the Council (e.g. a patio or addition to a dwelling would generally not require the Council‟s determination). 

However, if there are more than five (5) written objections received for an application, the application must be reported to the Council for determination.

DAP's, which service every local government area in Western Australia, came into operation on 1 July 2011. 

DAP's are independent entities answerable to the Minister and do not sit under the Department or the WAPC. 

DAP’s determine applications as if they are the responsible authority under the relevant planning instrument, such as the local planning scheme or region planning scheme, where applicable. Under the DAP Regulations, any application which qualifies as one that can be determined by a DAP cannot be determined by local government or the Western Australian Planning Commission.

There are two types of Development Assessment Panel (DAP), a Local Development Assessment Panel (LDAP) and a Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP). 

 An LDAP is established to service a single local government, where it is deemed to be a high-growth local government where the volume of development applications necessitates its own DAP. There is currently only one LDAP which covers the City of Perth.

JDAPs are DAP’s established to service two or more local governments. The City of Vincent is covered by the Metro Inner-North JDAP.

The JDAP is comprised of five (5) members, including three (3) specialist members (one of which is the presiding member who must hold a planning qualification) and two (2) Local Government elected members:

Specialist Members - The Metro Inner-North JDAP specialist members are listed here(External link). 

Local Government Members - The City of Vincent Local Government JDAP members are listed here(External link). 

 The JDAP panel members for this application will be confirmed at the time that the meeting is scheduled and listed in the meeting Agenda.

DAP meetings can be attended by members of the public.  If you have made a submission in relation to the above application, you will have an opportunity to present your concerns/comments at the DAP meeting. Any submitter seeking to make a presentation to the DAP is required to complete the DAP presentation request form, and forward it to the DAP Secretariat, at least 72 hours prior to the commencement of the DAP meeting.

The presentation request form is to be accompanied by a written document setting out the name of the person or representative of the group, the DAP application it relates to and the substance of the submission the person or group proposes to make.

If a DAP presentation approval is obtained, each applicant and submitter will be advised by the DAP Secretariat. The presentation is limited to 5 minutes, unless otherwise approved by the Presiding Member.

A copy of the agenda, including the report of the above-mentioned item, will be available five days before the meeting date on the DAP website.

Should you have any queries regarding the meeting or your ability to address the DAP process, please contact the DAP Secretariat on 6551 9919.

For more information about the Joint Development Assessment Panel please refer to the following web pages provided by the State Government’s Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage:

https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-planning-lands-and-heritage/development-assessment-panels(External link)

https://www.dplh.wa.gov.au/getmedia/acbbc959-ed16-4794-bc41-007e2a58a2ff/DAPs_Procedures_Manual-May2020